Strangers in the Night

(Wow! That sounds like some cheesy title on an old Dateline rerun!)

Last night was quite interesting over at our house. We headed to bed around 11 like usual and neither one of us was able to sleep well. Around 1 AM Jake woke me to tell me he was going downstairs for a drink and asked if I wanted one. He was down there for a little while but I didn't think anything of it. Then he comes flying up the stairs and grabs a loaded rifle from next to the bed and tells me there's a couple of guys trying to break into the house next door to us. (Not Wetzel's house, the empty junky house on the other side of us. If it were Wetzel's then Jake would have shot first and told me later!)

I assumed it was kids that used to live there, as there were quite the little hooligans! Finally I decided to go downstairs and peek for myself since I was already awake. Sure enough, there were two guys that looked to be about my age lurking around the house peeking in windows and trying to pry open a basement window. Both were male, wearing jeans and black shirts. One was wearing a ball cap and the other a pair of glasses. Both had backpacks on their backs. We were watching out our kitchen window with only the glow from the digital clock on the coffee pot for illumination. We were both pretty sure they never saw us. They never gave any sort of sign that they knew they were being watched.

They never got into the house, and as they took off we went to the window in the front of the house and watched them walk down the corner and turn south on the next street. As soon as we couldn't see them again we went upstairs and called 911. So they didn't actually get into the house? it was still pretty weird to see a couple of guys lurking around at 1AM with backpacks on their backs like that. And I knew that if we read in the paper or heard on the news of any break-ins that we would regret not calling it in.

I told the dispatcher our names, address, and what we had seen. He kept me on the phone with him while he called it in and it was just a couple of minutes more until a patrol car had the guys stopped clear across town. Another officer came to our house and had us walk around with him and explain over and over what we had seen.

The guys told the cop that stopped them that they had known the family that lived there previously and they were just looking in the windows to see if the house had been remodeled or if there was still junk it it. Likely story. Maybe the cops and Jake and I would have believed that if it were 1:00 in the afternoon and they were not trying to pry open the basement window. Anyhow, after the guys "fessed" up to what was going on, the cops let them go.

The officer that had been at our house stuck around a few minutes just talking with us. Meanwhile, we are both yawning and standing in the FREEZING cold grass in our bare feet!! Once he finally left we went back upstairs and tried to go to bed. Have you ever tried to get to sleep after chatting with cops about a couple of guys attempting to break into the house next door to yours? It's not a task that is easily accomplished. Trust me. We tuned in to a rerun of Mike Rowe and Dirty Jobs and tried like hell to get some sleep. neither one of us succeeded and we spent most of the night kicking at one another trying to get comfortable or shoving the dog to one side of the bed or the other.

Getting up for work this morning was miserable for me! It took every shred of energy I could muster to get into the shower and get dressed. I went through my normal routine. Showered and dressed, put on coffee, put the dog outside, straightened up the kitchen, put clothes in the washer. I let the dog in and went upstairs to tell Jake I was leaving. I gathered up my purse and coffee and headed out. I was just a few steps away from my car when I finally realized that my divers side window had been shattered. I dropped everything on the ground and started back to the house only to realize that my keys were in my purse and I had dropped them on the ground. When I turned back around to get my purse I noticed the back hatch of the Jimmy was opened.

I ran inside and grabbed the phone and dialed my office. As I was telling one of the ladies that I work with what was going on I staggered up the stairs shaking so bad that I could hardly breathe or walk. I told Jake and he was up and dressed in seconds and out the back door. Once I was squared away with work I once again called 911. For the second time in 6 hours.

The dispatcher told me there was an officer only a block away and he would be there in seconds. There were 2 different cops there in a couple of seconds, and a third one pulled up shortly after that in the back where the vehicles were parked.

The window in the Malibu had been busted while someone was trying to pry open. The only thing stolen was about $17 in cash that was in my center console. (The jackasses left my $200 Zune and almost $4000 in my lia sophia display jewelry!) The Jimmy's back hatch had been pried open and the stereo had been stolen. The dash was busted up pretty bad, but that was about the extent of the damage to it. (Once again, the perp climbed over a $2000 carpet stretcher and all of our camping and fishing gear. As avid of a fisher that Jake is, I don't even want to know how much he has invested in all of the tackle!)

I originally thought that the two freak incidents with us last night were related, but after talking to the three cops this morning I doubt they were. The kids the stopped last night that were poking around the neighboring house had only a change of clothes and a boy scout knife in their bags. There were no tools or any indication that they were breaking into cars. That's not to say that the incidents were not in some way related, but chances are that they were not. The cops this morning also told us that our vehicles were the third and fourth reports they had had that morning or auto break-in's. There was also one on First Street and one on Michigan.

I called our insurance provider and found that we have only PLPD coverage on both vehicles, which does not cover theft and/or vandalism. I am really cheap when it comes to insurance since I drive slow and have not been in an accident for years, so I was not surprised to be reminded that I had put only the cheapest available on both vehicles.

Talk about a shitty morning!! You know, the thing that bothers me the most is that we had to of been awake when the break-in's happened. Or at least one of us was. I feel violated! I have never been through anything like this before, and I had no idea that it could make you feel so lousy and vulnerable.

Of course, I did have a fever last night and I spent quite a bit of time outside without anything on my feet. Then after getting next to no sleep and having to drive to work with no window on my drivers side and freeze my ass off, I could be feeling pretty lousy over all of that. What a bitch, huh?

The chances of the police actually finding the person(s) who did this are pretty slim, and we knew that when we called them back to the house this morning, but I hope they do catch them. The mother fuckers are going to pay to replace not only my drivers side window, but the whole freaking door that is wobbly and botched and will more than likely have to be replaced according to the man I talked to at the glass place to get a quote on having it fixed. Then Jake is going to track them down and shoot their damn knees off.